Bellevue, Iowa climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Bellevue's normal year runs from 12°F January nights to 85°F July afternoons, with 37.8 inches of precipitation and 32 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 9.3°C, January lows of −11°C, July highs of 29°C, 960 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationBellevue Lock and Dam 12
- Station IDUSC00130608
- Location42.26°N 90.42°W
- Elevation603 ft (184 m)
- Population2,321
On October 14, the normal high in Bellevue is 64°F and the normal low 41°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 26%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Bellevue.
- Jan 29° 12°
- Feb 34° 15°
- Mar 46° 26°
- Apr 59° 37°
- May 71° 48°
- Jun 81° 59°
- Jul 85° 63°
- Aug 83° 61°
- Sep 76° 52°
- Oct 63° 41°
- Nov 47° 29°
- Dec 34° 19°
Each month: normal high (large) and low, °F. Fill: the month's normal mean, colder blue to hotter red.
What is the weather like in Bellevue each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 85°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 12°F. The most precipitation falls in June (5.58 in), the least in January (1.30 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29°F | 12°F | 20.5°F | 1.30 | 9.3 | 8 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 20 min |
| February | 34°F | 15°F | 24.3°F | 1.58 | 8.3 | 8 | <1 | 26 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 46°F | 26°F | 36.0°F | 2.16 | 3.9 | 9 | <1 | 24 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 59°F | 37°F | 48.3°F | 3.77 | 0.4 | 11 | <1 | 9 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 71°F | 48°F | 59.8°F | 4.21 | 0.1 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 14 h 30 min |
| June | 81°F | 59°F | 69.9°F | 5.58 | 0.0 | 11 | 4 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| July | 85°F | 63°F | 73.6°F | 4.33 | 0.0 | 9 | 7 | <1 | 15 h |
| August | 83°F | 61°F | 71.8°F | 3.78 | 0.0 | 8 | 4 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 76°F | 52°F | 64.0°F | 3.65 | 0.0 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 63°F | 41°F | 51.7°F | 3.18 | 0.2 | 8 | <1 | 7 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 47°F | 29°F | 38.3°F | 2.34 | 1.3 | 8 | <1 | 20 | 9 h 50 min |
| December | 34°F | 19°F | 26.5°F | 1.93 | 8.4 | 9 | <1 | 28 | 9 h 10 min |
| Year (annual) | 59°F | 39°F | 48.7°F | 37.81 | 31.9 | 109 | 17 | 146 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −2°C | −11°C | −6.4°C | 33 mm | 24 cm |
| February | 1°C | −9°C | −4.3°C | 40 mm | 21 cm |
| March | 8°C | −3°C | 2.2°C | 55 mm | 10 cm |
| April | 15°C | 3°C | 9.1°C | 96 mm | 1 cm |
| May | 22°C | 9°C | 15.4°C | 107 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 27°C | 15°C | 21.1°C | 142 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 29°C | 17°C | 23.1°C | 110 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 28°C | 16°C | 22.1°C | 96 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 24°C | 11°C | 17.8°C | 93 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 17°C | 5°C | 10.9°C | 81 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 8°C | −1°C | 3.5°C | 59 mm | 3 cm |
| December | 1°C | −7°C | −3.1°C | 49 mm | 21 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00130608; annual normals. Wet days: 0.01 inch or more; 90°F days and freezing nights: NOAA's day counts. Daylight: sunrise to sunset on the 15th, computed from the latitude.
When is the best weather to visit Bellevue?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August and September. Of those, August has the fewest days with rain (8).
That is a measurement, not a recommendation: it counts the months whose normal afternoon high sits between 65°F and 85°F, where a light layer is enough by day.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00130608.
When is the last frost in Bellevue?
In Bellevue, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 25 in half of years and after May 11 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 16 in half of years and before October 1 in one year in ten.
Frost-free in half of yearsFrost in 1 to 9 years out of 10Frost most years
- Last spring frost, half of years after
- April 251 year in 10 after May 11; 9 in 10 after April 10
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 161 year in 10 before October 1; 9 in 10 before October 29
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 172 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 195 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 13 in half of springs and before October 27 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Bellevue in zone 5a in ZIP code 52031, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Bellevue's NOAA station is in zone 5a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −17°F (23 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Iowa · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00130608; USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026; the station zone: ACIS daily lows, 1991-2020. A 10% date means one year in ten has a frost after it in spring or before it in autumn.
How hot and how cold does it get in Bellevue?
In a normal year in Bellevue, 17 days a year reach 90°F, 146 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 109 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 17a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 146a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 52high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 109a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 11a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1941) is 103°F, on July 7, 2012; the lowest is −35°F, on January 17, 2009.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2008, with 49.59 in; the snowiest season is 2007–08, with 61.3 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00130608; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00130608. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Bellevue?
Over a year 73% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Bellevue, 3.9 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (80%) and December the cloudiest (61%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 65% | 1.8 |
| February | 71% | 2.8 |
| March | 69% | 3.7 |
| April | 69% | 4.7 |
| May | 71% | 5.6 |
| June | 75% | 6.1 |
| July | 80% | 6.3 |
| August | 79% | 5.4 |
| September | 79% | 4.4 |
| October | 70% | 2.9 |
| November | 68% | 2.0 |
| December | 61% | 1.4 |
Source: NASA POWER solar climatology, 2001-2020 (CERES SYN1deg). Satellite-based, for the 1-degree cell (about 100 km across) around the station, so it describes the area rather than the airport.
How much heating and cooling does Bellevue need?
A normal year in Bellevue brings 6,710 heating degree days, 25% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 821 cooling degree days, 10% fewer than the median (908). Seven months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 3,021 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,379 | 0 |
| February | 1,140 | 0 |
| March | 900 | 1 |
| April | 504 | 4 |
| May | 211 | 48 |
| June | 30 | 179 |
| July | 4 | 272 |
| August | 10 | 221 |
| September | 116 | 87 |
| October | 423 | 10 |
| November | 803 | 0 |
| December | 1,192 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,710 | 821 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00130608. A degree day is one degree of a day's mean temperature below 65°F (heating) or above it (cooling); utilities use them to estimate energy use.
Has Bellevue been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 49.8°F, 1.1°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 48.7°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 50.0°F | +1.3°F | 32.82 | – |
| 2022 | 47.5°F | −1.3°F | 35.95 | – |
| 2023 | 50.8°F | +2.1°F | 28.37 | 26.5 |
| 2024 | 51.9°F | +3.2°F | 42.67 | 33.4 |
| 2025 | 49.8°F | +1.1°F | 33.30 | – |
Over 76 complete years from 1941 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.0°F per century (+0.11°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00130608; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Bellevue's climate compare?
Bellevue is warmer than 82 of the other 131 places with their own NOAA record in Iowa, and wetter than 88. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 48.7°F is warmer than 35%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Bellevue is Dfa: continental, no dry season, hot summer. What the classes mean.
Places with the most similar year elsewhere
Measured month by month on the normal high, low and precipitation, among places of 20,000 or more people in other states:
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for every station PlainClimate covers. Similarity: the root-mean-square difference of the 36 monthly figures, precipitation weighted so an inch counts like 6°F.
Which places near Bellevue share this climate record?
3 places have no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of their own, and this station is the nearest full record. A place's own climate can differ from these figures, by several degrees where it sits much higher or lower than the station, nearer the coast, or inside a large city's heat; for the larger places the next nearest records are named with their yearly mean, so the spread around them is visible, and places of 50,000 or more have their own page with NOAA's gridded normals.
- The Galena Territory, IL1,644 people · 10 mi NE
- Hanover, IL828 people · 8 mi E
- Springbrook, IA145 people · 7 mi SW
Source: Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer (place centers) and Vintage 2024 population estimates. Distance and direction from the station to each place's center.
Questions about Bellevue's climate
What is the coldest month in Bellevue?
January, with a normal high of 29°F and a normal low of 12°F. The warmest is July (85°F by day, 63°F at night).
Does it snow in Bellevue?
Yes: 32 inches in a normal year, falling on 16 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (9.3 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Bellevue?
June, with 5.58 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 1.30 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Bellevue in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Bellevue in zone 5a in ZIP code 52031, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Bellevue's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −17°F (23 years, 1991-2020): zone 5a.
How late can frost come in Bellevue?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 25; in one year in ten it comes after May 11. Waiting until May 11 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Iowa climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Galena, IL10 miles from this station, 47.0°F a year
- Elizabeth, IL11 miles from this station, 47.5°F a year
- Dubuque, IA17 miles from this station, 47.2°F a year
- Maquoketa, IA18 miles from this station, 47.9°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made